Center for Particle Astrophysics

Munch: Monday, February 9th, 2009

 
arXiv:0902.0593 [ps, pdf, other]

The PAMELA and ATIC Signals From Kaluza-Klein Dark Matter

(Submitted on 3 Feb 2009)
Abstract: In this letter, we study the possibility that Kaluza-Klein dark matter in a model with one universal extra dimension is responsible for the recent observations of the PAMELA and ATIC experiments. In this model, the dark matter particles annihilate largely to charged leptons, which enables them to produce a spectrum of cosmic ray electrons and positrons consistent with the PAMELA and ATIC measurements. To normalize to the observed signal, however, large boost factors (~10^3) are required. Despite these large boost factors and significant annihilation to hadronic modes (35%), we find that the constraints from cosmic ray antiproton measurements can be satisfied. Relic abundance considerations in this model force us to consider a rather specific range of masses (approximately 600-900 GeV) which is very similar to the range required to generate the ATIC spectral feature. The results presented here can also be used as a benchmark for model-independent constraints on dark matter annihilation to hadronic modes.
 
arXiv:0901.4804 [ps, pdf, other]

Improved Dark Energy Constraints from ~100 New CfA Supernova Type Ia Light Curves

(Submitted on 29 Jan 2009)
Abstract: We combine the CfA3 supernova Type Ia (SN Ia) sample with samples from the literature to calculate improved constraints on the dark energy equation of state parameter, w. The CfA3 sample is added to the Union set of Kowalski et al. (2008) to form the Constitution set and, combined with a BAO prior, produces 1+w=0.013 +0.066/-0.068 (0.11 syst), consistent with the cosmological constant. The CfA3 addition makes the cosmologically-useful sample of nearby SN Ia between 2.6 and 2.9 times larger than before, reducing the statistical uncertainty to the point where systematics play the largest role. We use four light curve fitters to test for systematic differences: SALT, SALT2, MLCS2k2 (R_V=3.1), and MLCS2k2 (R_V=1.7). SALT and SALT2 produce high-redshift Hubble residuals with systematic trends versus color and larger scatter than MLCS2k2. MLCS2k2 overestimates the intrinsic luminosity of SN Ia with 0.7 < Delta < 1.2. MLCS2k2 with R_V=3.1 overestimates host-galaxy extinction while R_V=1.7 does not. Our investigation is consistent with no Hubble bubble. We also find that, after light-curve correction, SN Ia in Scd/Sd/Irr hosts are intrinsically fainter than those in E/S0 hosts by 2 sigma, suggesting that they may come from different populations. We also find that SN Ia in Scd/Sd/Irr hosts have low scatter (0.1 mag) and reddening. Current systematic errors can be reduced by improving SN Ia photometric accuracy, by including the CfA3 sample to retrain light-curve fitters, by combining optical SN Ia photometry with near-infrared photometry to understand host-galaxy extinction, and by determining if different environments give rise to different intrinsic SN Ia luminosity after correction for light-curve shape and color.
 
arXiv:0901.4787 [ps, pdf, other]

CfA3: 185 Type Ia Supernova Light Curves from the CfA

(Submitted on 30 Jan 2009 (v1), last revised 3 Feb 2009 (this version, v3))
Abstract: We present multi-band photometry of 185 type-Ia supernovae (SN Ia), with over 11500 observations. These were acquired between 2001 and 2008 at the F. L. Whipple Observatory of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA). This sample contains the largest number of homogeneously-observed and reduced nearby SN Ia (z < 0.08) published to date. It more than doubles the nearby sample, bringing SN Ia cosmology to the point where systematic uncertainties dominate. Our natural system photometry has a precision of 0.02 mag or better in BVRIr'i' and roughly 0.04 mag in U for points brighter than 17.5 mag. We also estimate a systematic uncertainty of 0.03 mag in our SN Ia standard system BVRIr'i' photometry and 0.07 mag for U. Comparisons of our standard system photometry with published SN Ia light curves and comparison stars, where available for the same SN, reveal agreement at the level of a few hundredths mag in most cases. We find that 1991bg-like SN Ia are sufficiently distinct from other SN Ia in their color and light-curve-shape/luminosity relation that they should be treated separately in light-curve/distance fitter training samples. The CfA3 sample will contribute to the development of better light-curve/distance fitters, particularly in the few dozen cases where near-infrared photometry has been obtained and, together, can help disentangle host-galaxy reddening from intrinsic supernova color, reducing the systematic uncertainty in SN Ia distances due to dust.
 
arXiv:0901.0721 [ps, pdf, other]

Findings of the Joint Dark Energy Mission Figure of Merit Science Working Group

(Submitted on 6 Jan 2009)
Abstract: These are the findings of the Joint Dark Energy Mission (JDEM) Figure of Merit (FoM) Science Working Group (SWG), the FoMSWG. JDEM is a space mission planned by NASA and the DOE for launch in the 2016 time frame. The primary mission is to explore the nature of dark energy. In planning such a mission, it is necessary to have some idea of knowledge of dark energy in 2016, and a way to quantify the performance of the mission. In this paper we discuss these issues.
 
arXiv:0902.0625 [ps, pdf, other]

Designing Future Dark Energy Space Mission: I. Building Realistic Galaxy Spectro-Photometric Catalogs and their first applications

(Submitted on 4 Feb 2009)
Abstract: Future dark energy space missions such as JDEM and EUCLID are being designed to survey the galaxy population to trace the geometry of the universe and the growth of structure, which both depend on the cosmological model. To reach the goal of high precision cosmology they need to evaluate the capabilities of different instrument designs based on realistic mock catalog. The aim of this paper is to construct realistic and flexible mock catalogs based on our knowledge of galaxy population from current deep surveys. We explore two categories of mock catalog : (i) based on luminosity functions fit of observations (GOODS, UDF,COSMOS,VVDS) using the Le Phare software (ii) based on the observed COSMOS galaxy distribution which benefits from all the properties of the data-rich COSMOS survey. For these two catalogs, we have produced simulated number counts in several bands, color diagrams and redshift distribution for validation against real observational data. We also derive some basic requirements to help designing future Dark Energy mission in terms of number of galaxies available for the weak-lensing analysis as a function of the PSF size and depth of the survey. We also compute the spectroscopic success rate for future spectroscopic redshift surveys (i) aiming at measuring BAO in the case of the wide field spectroscopic redshift survey, and (ii) for the photometric redshift calibration survey which is required to achieve weak lensing tomography with great accuracy. They will be publicly accessible at this http URL, or by request to the first author of this paper
 
arXiv:0901.2570 [ps, pdf, other]

Cosmological parameter constraints from SDSS luminous red galaxies: a new treatment of large-scale clustering

Authors: Ariel G. Sanchez (1), M. Crocce (2), A. Cabre (2), C. M. Baugh (3), E. Gaztanaga (2) ((1) MPE, Garching, Germany, (2) CSIC/IEEC, Barcelona, Spain, (3) ICC, Durham, UK)
(Submitted on 19 Jan 2009)
Abstract: We apply a new model for the spherically averaged correlation function at large pair separations to the measurement of the clustering of luminous red galaxies (LRGs) made from the SDSS by Cabre & Gaztanaga (2008). Our model takes into account the form of the BAO peak and the large scale shape of the correlation function. We perform a Monte Carlo Markov chain analysis for different combinations of datasets and for different parameter sets. The correlation function measurements by themselves can constrain the dark energy equation of state parameter to w_DE=-1.02+-0.13, independently of CMB or supernovae data. When used in combination with a compilation of the latest CMB measurements, the LRG clustering and the latest supernovae results give constraints on cosmological parameters which are comparable and in remarkably good agreement, resolving the tension reported in some studies. The best fitting model in the context of a flat, Lambda-CDM cosmology is specified by Omega_m=0.261+-0.011, Omega_b=0.044+-0.001, n_s=0.96+-0.01, H_0=71.5+-1.1 km/s/Mpc and sigma_8=0.80+-0.02. If we allow the time-independent dark energy equation of state parameter to vary, we find results consistent with a cosmological constant at the 5% level using all data sets: w_DE=-0.97+-0.05. We do not find convincing evidence for an evolving equation of state. We provide a set of ``extended distance priors'' that contain the most relevant information from the CMB power spectrum and the shape of the LRG correlation function which can be used to constrain dark energy models and spatial curvature. Our model should provide an accurate description of the clustering even in much larger, forthcoming surveys, such as those planned with NASA's JDEM or ESA's Euclid mission.
 

Comment on the claimed radial BAO detection by Gaztanaga et al

(Submitted on 9 Jan 2009)
Abstract: Gaztanaga et al. have recently claimed to measure the Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (BAO) scale in the radial direction from the publicly available SDSS DR6 data. They focus on the correlation function of Luminous Red Galaxies (LRG) close to the line-of-sight direction to find a feature that they identify as the BAO peak, arguing that a magnification bias effect from gravitational lensing increases the amplitude of the BAO peak, facilitating its detection. In this Comment, we clarify that lensing has a negligible impact on the measurement of the BAO peak, and that the interpretation by Gaztanaga et al. is incorrect. The feature they identify in the LRG correlation function near the line-of-sight cannot be explained by any known physical effect and is in fact consistent with noise.
 
arXiv:0902.0009 [ps, pdf, other]

A dark matter disc in three cosmological simulations of Milky Way mass galaxies

(Submitted on 30 Jan 2009)
Abstract: Making robust predictions for the phase space distribution of dark matter at the solar neighbourhood is vital for dark matter direct detection experiments. To date, almost all such predictions have been based on simulations that model the dark matter alone. Here, we use three cosmological hydrodynamics simulations of bright, disc dominated galaxies to include the effects of baryonic matter self-consistently for the first time. We find that the addition of baryonic physics drastically alters the dark matter profile in the vicinity of the Solar neighbourhood. A stellar/gas disc, already in place at high redshift, causes merging satellites to be dragged preferentially towards the disc plane where they are torn apart by tides. This results in an accreted dark matter disc that contributes ~0.25 - 1.5 times the non-rotating halo density at the solar position. The dark disc, unlike dark matter streams, is an equilibrium structure that must exist in disc galaxies that form in a hierarchical cosmology. Its low rotation lag with respect to the Earth significantly boosts WIMP capture in the Earth and Sun, boosts the annual modulation signal, and leads to distinct variations in the flux as a function of recoil energy that allow the WIMP mass to be determined.
 
arXiv:0902.0726 [ps, pdf, other]

Hubble Diagram Dispersion From Large-Scale Structure

(Submitted on 4 Feb 2009)
Abstract: We consider the effects of large structures in the Universe on the Hubble diagram. This problem is treated non-linearly by considering a Swiss Cheese model of the Universe in which under-dense voids are represented as negatively curved regions of space-time. Exact solutions for luminosity distances and redshifts are derived, and used to investigate the non-linear effects of structure on the magnitudes of astrophysical sources. It is found that intervening voids, between the observer and source, have no noticeable effect, while sources inside voids can be effected considerably. By averaging observable quantities over many randomly generated distributions of voids we find that the presence of these structures has the effect of displacing the average magnitude from its background value, and introducing a dispersion around that average. Observers in an inhomogeneous universe, who take averages of observables along many different lines of sight, may then introduce systematic biases, and under-estimate errors, if these effects are not taken into account. Estimates of the potential size of these effects are made using data from the Millennium Simulation.
 
arXiv:0902.0769 [ps, pdf, other]

Axinos as Dark Matter Particles

(Submitted on 4 Feb 2009)
Abstract: The identification of dark matter in our particle physics model is still a very open question. Here we will argue that axinos can be successful dark matter candidates in models with supersymmetry and the axion solution of the strong CP problem. Axinos can be the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP), or can be heavier than the LSP. Axinos can be produced in the right abundance by thermal scatterings and if they are the LSP also by out of equilibrium decays of the lightest superpartner of SM fields (LSPSMs). On the other hand heavier (not LSP) axinos can generate a part of the neutralino LSP dark matter. Depending on the nature of the supersymmetric spectrum, and if R-parity is strictly conserved or slightly broken, very different signals of the LSP axino scenario can arise at colliders and in astrophysics.
 
arXiv:0902.0039 [pdf, other]

Can the WMAP Haze really be a signature of annihilating neutralino dark matter?

(Submitted on 31 Jan 2009)
Abstract: Observations by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) satellite have identified an excess of microwave emission from the centre of the Milky Way. It has been suggested that this WMAP haze emission could potentially be synchrotron emission from relativistic electrons and positrons produced in the annihilations of one (or more) species of dark matter particles. In this paper we re-calculate the intensity and morphology of the WMAP haze using a multi-linear regression involving full-sky templates of the dominant forms of galactic foreground emission, using two different CMB sky signal estimators. The first estimator is a posterior mean CMB map, marginalized over a general foreground model using a Gibbs sampling technique, and the other is the ILC map produced by the WMAP team. Earlier analyses of the WMAP haze used the ILC map, which is more contaminated by galactic foregrounds than the Gibbs map. In either case, we re-confirm earlier results that a statistically significant residual emission remains after foreground subtraction that is concentrated around the galactic centre. However, we find that the significance of this emission can be significantly reduced by allowing for a subtle spatial variation in the frequency dependence of soft synchrotron emission in the inner and outer parts of the galaxy. We also re-investigate the prospect of a neutralino dark matter interpretation of the origin of the haze, and find that significant boosting in the dark matter annihilation rate is required, relative to that obtained with a smooth galactic dark matter distribution, in order to reproduce the inferred residual emission, contrary to that deduced in several recent studies.
 
arXiv:0902.0618 [ps, pdf, other]

Non-linear Evolution of Matter Power Spectrum in Modified Theory of Gravity

(Submitted on 4 Feb 2009)
Abstract: We present a formalism to calculate the non-linear matter power spectrum in modified gravity models that explain the late-time acceleration of the Universe without dark energy. Any successful modified gravity models should contain a mechanism to recover General Relativity (GR) on small scales in order to avoid the stringent constrains on deviations from GR at solar system scales. Based on our formalism, the quasi non-linear power spectrum in the Dvali-Gabadadze-Porratti (DGP) braneworld models and $f(R)$ gravity models are derived by taking into account the mechanism to recover GR properly. We also extrapolate our predictions to fully non-linear scales using the Parametrized Post Friedmann (PPF) framework. In $f(R)$ gravity models, the predicted non-linear power spectrum is shown to reproduce N-body results. We find that the mechanism to recover GR suppresses the difference between the modified gravity models and dark energy models with the same expansion history, but the difference remains large at weakly non-linear regime in these models. Our formalism is applicable to a wide variety of modified gravity models and it is ready to use once consistent models for modified gravity are developed.
 
arXiv:0901.4566 [ps, pdf, other]

Cosmological background solutions and cosmological backreactions

(Submitted on 28 Jan 2009)
Abstract: The cosmological backreaction proposal, which attempts to account for observations without a primary dark energy source in the stress-energy tensor, has been developed and discussed by means of different approaches. Here, we focus on the concept of cosmological background solutions in order to develop a framework to study the backreaction proposal.
 
arXiv:0901.3932 [ps, pdf, other]

Can TeVeS avoid Dark Matter on galactic scales?

(Submitted on 25 Jan 2009)
Abstract: A fully relativistic analysis of gravitational lensing in TeVeS is presented. By estimating the lensing masses for a set of six lenses from the CASTLES database, and then comparing them to the stellar mass, the deficit between the two is obtained and analysed. Considering a parametrised range for the TeVeS function $mu(y)$, which controls the strength of the modification to gravity, it is found that on galactic scales TeVeS requires additional dark matter with the commonly used $mu(y)$. A soft dependence of the results on the cosmological framework and the TeVeS free parameters is discussed. For one particular form of $mu(y)$, TeVeS is found to require very little dark matter. This choice is however ruled out by rotation curve data. The inability to simultaneously fit lensing and rotation curves for a single form of $mu(y)$ is a challenge to a "no dark matter" TeVeS proposal.
 
arXiv:0901.4935 [ps, pdf, other]

MOND and the dark baryons

Authors: O. Tiret (1,2), F. Combes (1) ((1) LERMA-Observatoire de Paris, (2) SISSA)
(Submitted on 30 Jan 2009)
Abstract: We consider for the first time the implications on the modified gravity MOND model of galaxies, of the presence of dark baryons, under the form of cold molecular gas in galaxy discs. We show that MOND models of rotation curves are still valid and universal, but the critical acceleration a0 separating the Newtonian and MONDian regimes has a lower value. We quantify this modification, as a function of the scale factor c between the total gas of the galaxy and the measured atomic gas. The main analysis concerns 43 resolved rotation curves and allows us to find the best pair (a0 = 0.96 10e-10 m.s-2, c = 3), which is also compatible to the one obtained from a second method by minimizing the scatter in the baryonic Tully-Fisher relation.
 
arXiv:0902.0146 [ps, pdf, other]

Mirror Matter, Mirror Gravity and Galactic Rotational Curves

(Submitted on 2 Feb 2009)
Abstract: A bigravity theory where the normal and dark matter components are coupled to separate metric fields linked to each-other with small non-derivative terms allows the Yukawa-like modification of the gravitational potential at large distances. This opens new prospects for the dark matter candidates. Namely, instead of being cold and collisionless, dark matter can be collisional and dissipative, as it occurs in the case of mirror matter that presumably does not form extended halos but is clumped similarly to visible matter. We show that the flattening of the galactic rotational curves can be explained if the typical scale of the Yukawa-like potential is about few tens of kpc and if the mass ratio between dark matter and visible matter in galaxies is about 10.